OBSERVATION OF BOOK HANDLING AND
EMERGENT STORY READING
You will be assessing children’s knowledge of books,
their oral language and their emergent reading
strategies.
1. Ask the child to select a book. Take note of what
the child is saying, comments relating to his/her
familiarity with books, authors, book chosen and
reading in general. Also observe the child’s
approach to books (enthusiastic, cautious, etc.)
2. Ask the child to read the book with you. If the
child is reluctant and says he/she can’t read, then
say that that’s OK, let’s just tell the story.
3. Watch how the child holds the book, whether he/she
is orienting the book correctly, turning the pages
from front to back and tracking the story left to
right. Notice whether the child is referencing the
print or the illustrations.
4. Take notes about the quality of the language that
the child uses. Is it labeling, accurate,
descriptive, creative, etc? Also take not of the
syntax (sentence structure), semantics
(understanding of the meaning of the words) and the
richness of vocabulary. Observe the child’s use of
expression and intonation. Writing exact quotes
will be useful for later group discussion.
CATEGORIES OF EMERGENT READING
 Story not formed, but there is labeling and
commenting on illustrations
 Story formed, based on illustrations
 Story formed, based on illustrations using
storytelling intonation and language.
 Story read using illustrations
 Story told using a combination of storytelling and
focusing on known aspects of print
 Story read, using independent strategies.